Analysis of tantalum by ICP-AES involving trace-matrix separation

Summary A trace-matrix separation technique for the analysis of high-purity tantalum by ICP-AES has been developed to overcome the difficulties caused by the line-richness of this matrix. The procedure is based on the extraction of tantalum with diantipyrylmethane from 12 mol/l HF in dichloroethane. The extraction behaviour of 35 elements has been investigated from which 25 can quantitatively be separated with a residual matrix concentration <0.01% at 1 g sample portion. The achievable limits of detection for ICP-AES are between 0.02 g/g and 10 g/g. The method was applied to the analysis of a high-purity tantalum sample. For a number of elements, the results of this technique are compared with those of other techniques whereby, in general, a good agreement was achieved.